Fox News host Jesse Watters has been tapped to anchor a show for the network’s coveted 8 p.m. TV slot once occupied by Tucker Carlson, the network announced Monday.
Watters, who has been serving as a co-host for Fox’s roundtable TV show “The Five” as well as “Jesse Watters Primetime,” will move his solo show to the new time slot on July 17.
The host shakeup will impact weekday programming for multiple shows. The new lineup for its high-profile hosts will be Laura Ingraham at 7 p.m., Watters at 8 p.m., Sean Hannity at 9 p.m., Greg Gutfield at 10 p.m., and Trace Gallagher at 11 p.m.
“The unique perspectives of Laura Ingraham, Jesse Watters, Sean Hannity, and Greg Gutfeld will ensure our viewers have access to unrivaled coverage from our best-in-class team for years to come,” Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott said in a statement.
Carlson was abruptly ousted by Fox in April less than a week after the company agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems about $800 million to settle a defamation case.
Since leaving Fox, Carlson kicked off a “Tucker on Twitter” series — arguing that Twitter was “the only” major remaining platform that allows free speech as he denounced news media. Fox reportedly sent Carlson a cease-and-desist letter over the Twitter series.
Carlson was Fox’s top-rated TV host when he left the network, averaging 3.25 million viewers in March, his last full month at Fox. That same month, “Hannity” averaged 1.91 million viewers, “The Five” averaged 2.63 million and “Special Report with Bret Baier” averaged 1.81 million, according to reporting from Deadline.
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